Evangelion: Desert Expedition 01
by cookie krumb 01
Summary: On a search to find ancient writings referring to Evas in the desert, Shinji and Asuka are able to associate with one another, discovering more through the many hardships they encounter.


****

Shinji, Asuka, Toji, and Kensuke are sitting in the back of a pick-up truck, while Mr. Kaji drives and Misato rides inside with him. Rei is with Gendo Ikari in one of the following trucks. They are on n expedition for NERV to try and locate a polygraph giving insight on the Evangelion series. A local Navajo Indian who's lived there all her life gave hints on the whereabouts of the site.

As the truck rides along the gravel road, Asuka looked to Shinji, then to Toji and Kensuke. "Why'd you have to bring these idiots along?!" Kensuke looked up at her drooling. ~thinking~ 'I can't believe I'm actually _this_ close to her!' Asuka gave him a look of disgust. Shinji smirked. "Come on, Asuka," he said. "You _know_ you want them here!" Toji and Asuka shot him a surprised look. Then they jumped on Shinji and dog piled him. Kensuke began to admire Asuka again in her fit of rage, when suddenly the truck began to rumble violently. The four looked up from their spots. The truck was driving off the dirt trail and onto natural ground through various rocks and shrubs.

Misato stuck her head out the window. "Hold on tight! This is going to be a bumpy ride." Asuka gave her a look, but Misato had already closed the window and started to chat with Mr. Kaji in the front seat. Kensuke turned towards Shinji. "Supposedly this site we're going to is located on one of the ridges." Shinji gave him a puzzled look. "Well, I prepared myself with all the essentials, especially since we're probably going to have to hike it up." Asuka picked up her head. "Hike?! I brought mostly sneakers and shorts. I didn't think I'd actually have to do anything!" Toji smiled. "Of course ya didn't think!" Asuka shot him a glare, then slapped him across the face. "Owwww. Wazzat necessary?"

They continued to drive for an hour or so before finally reaching their destination. "Uuuuuuhh. We're here at last!" said Asuka as she yawned and "accidentally" hitting Toji in the face. Toji gave her an aggravated glance. Shinji looked up to see various small white buildings with NERV logos on them set up all around the vicinity. Misato stepped out of the car. "Come on you guys. Let me show you to some food!" They immediately jumped out of the trunk. Asuka slowed down, while Mr. Kaji opened his door. Asuka ran next to him. "Mr. Kaji! Go with us! We're going to go eat right now." Mr. Kaji thought about it for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, Asuka. I have some really important business to take care of. Maybe another time." Asuka got upset, but immediately changed to her friendly attitude. "Come ooooon, Mr. Kaji. It's just a little food. You don't want me to sit by myself with _those_ boys, now do you?" Asuka pouted her lips. Mr. Kaji sighed. "OK, Asuka, but only for an hour." Asuka grinned happily.

Asuka and Mr. Kaji walked towards the cafeteria and joined the rest of the group. Asuka hovered above Mr. Kaji the whole time. When Toji noticed this, he said "Wad are ya doin? Are you two joined at da hip or sometin?!" Mr. Kaji sat back in his chair at the remark. Asuka, infuriated, kicked Toji firmly in the shin under the table. Toji winced back, trying to cover the pain. (Trust me! Getting kicked in the shin does hurt! That's why you wear shin guards in soccer.) Mr. Kaji got up and stuck his cigarette stub in the ashtray. Everyone stared at him. "I've got to go now," he says. Then Mr. Kaji walked away out the back door. Asuka watched as he left. She then turned to face Toji. "YOU! If you hadn't said that, Mr. Kaji probably wouldn't have left!!! You moron!" Asuka lunged at him. "Your crazy! Ya know that?!" yelled Toji as Shinji and Kensuke try to prevent the two from killing each other. 

Misato put her empty can of beer down. "Stop it you two!" she said. "This is ridiculous! We have a whole week ahead of us, maybe more. Now I don't want to waste this whole time on arguments! We're on a mission and you should be concentrating on that, too. Now I have a lot to discuss with you guys, but I will talk about it in the morning. For now I will just assign you to your rooms." Misato reached into the pocket of her shorts, and pulled out four sets of cards. "These are your keys," she said looking at each of them one by one. "This is your responsibility. Everybody gets his or her own room. Now we wake up at 6 am! You got that? OK. That's all." Misato sighed and grabbed another can of cold beer sitting on the nearby table. Shinji immediately followed Misato's instruction and headed out the door to retrieve his belongings. 

Toji decided to do his own thing, though. He walked over to Kensuke and whispered "Here's da game plan. When Misato leaves ta her room, we sneak outa here. I's heard there's a cave round here filled wit valuable stones n stuff. We can take da extra seta keys in da pickup and take a quick drive round da terrain, see if we's can find dat cave. Dem always movin' about round here, so dey'll never notice. Ya know wad I mean?" Kensuke nodded in agreement, imagining the great possibilities of the adventure. Then he thought for a sec and said, "What about Shinji? Is he going to come along, too?" "Eh, we'll just drag 'em along when we go. Got dat? Lez go!" 

Toji started to run out the door, when Asuka moved right in front of them. "So where are you two _dorks_ off to?!" Toji stepped forward in front of her face. "None of yous' bees wax! Ya hear?" Just as he was about to walk around her, Asuka pushed him back. "Not a good enough answer! Either you tell me or I just go and tell Misato that you're up to something. I bet she'd love to hear _that_!" Toji began to consider what he was going to say, when Kensuke blurted out their plan. "Toji heard around that there's an interesting cave nearby filled with precious stones and gems. It seems as if no one's even been in this area before. So if that's true, we'll probably find lots of gems that are very valuable." Asuka tossed the idea in the back of her mind, and then nodded to both of them. "Count me in! I'm not gonna let _you_ two have all of the fun!" Toji gave Kensuke an annoyed look. He shrugged, while Asuka smirked with satisfaction. 

"So who's going to get Shinji?" said Kensuke. "_He's_ coming along? Oh boy! Won't this be fun? Why don't you go get him?" Asuka said as she pointed to Toji. "Me?! Fine! Juss gimme a min," said Toji running past the barren desert and white buildings towards Shinji's room. Asuka and Kensuke watched him go around the corner. Toji entered an empty room. Inside was a cot with an open duffel on top of it. Shinji was lying down listening to his SDAT player. Toji sprinted towards him and grabbed his sleeve, making Shinji drop the player on his cot. "We gotta go! There's no time to explain. Come on!" He ran out the door with Shinji stumbling behind him. Shinji was confused until he reached Asuka and Kensuke where they explained what they were planning to do. Shinji felt he had no other choice but to go along, especially since Asuka was involved.

They all waited by the corner of a parked Hummer. Misato sipped her can of beer in the cafeteria while talking with Mr. Kaji. Asuka shot an angered look at Misato. Misato waved good-bye to Mr. Kaji and threw her empty crushed can in a nearby canister. Then she headed to her room behind the row of other buildings set up. Toji whisperd, "Kay, I'm gonna crawl ta her truck ova there by dat bright light. I b'lieve it's in da glove compartment. I'll signal ya'll if I find dem. Don't come till I call ya, or else ya might get caught. If I do, juss go back ta your rooms I'll be fine. Ya got that?" Asuka rolled her eyes, while Shinji and Kensuke gave him a thumbs-up. 


End file.
